Volume 6.11 | Mar 23

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STORY

Using video microscopy in the living mouse lung, UC San Francisco scientists have revealed that the lungs play a previously unrecognized role in blood production. The researchers found that the lungs produced more than half of the platelets – blood components required for the clotting that stanches bleeding – in the mouse circulation. [Press release from UC San Francisco discussing online prepublication in Nature]
Press Release | Abstract | Video

Researchers addressed the question of whether and how inhibiting Akt activity could improve therapy of non-small cell lung cancer that represents more than 80% of all lung cancer cases. They demonstrated that Akt inhibitors interacted synergistically with Microtubule-Targeting Agents and specifically in cancer cell lines, including those resistant to chemotherapy agents and anti-EGFR targeted therapies. [Sci Rep]
Full Article

The authors identified 6-amino-4-(4-phenoxyphenylethylamino)quinazoline (quinazoline/QNZ)-A as a promising selective cytotoxic agent against A549 cells. QNZ-A, by virtue of its Michael acceptor unit, induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation associated with collapse of the redox buffering system in A549 cells. This caused up-regulation of p53-inducible p21 and down-regulation of redox sensitive Cdc25C along with Cyclin B1/Cdk1, leading to a G2/M cell cycle arrest and final cell apoptosis. [Biochem Biophys Res Commun]
Abstract

An advanced form of image-guided radiation therapy, known as intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT), has shown early promise for the treatment of recurrent lung cancer. Researchers found that after reirradiation with IMPT, the majority of patients were free from local recurrence one year following treatment and few experienced severe side effects. [Press release from MD Anderson discussing research presented at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium, San Francisco]
Press Release

Boehringer Ingelheim announced that the first patient has been enrolled in the progressive fibrosing interstital lung disease trial. This study investigates the efficacy and safety of nintedanib in a range of progressive fibrosing lung conditions other than idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. [Boehringer Ingelheim]
Press Release

Aprea Therapeutics announced a collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to study the effects of reactivation of tumor suppressor protein p53 by APR-246. The goal of the collaboration is to evaluate and characterize preclinical efficacy of APR-246 in combination with multiple other anti-cancer agents and across multiple tumor types. [Aprea Therapeutics (PR Newswire Association LLC.)]
Press Release

Scientists at The Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, immunology and infectious diseases, have secured more than $4,720,000 million in research funds. [The Wistar Institute]
Press Release

The budget that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government released lives up to his promises to emphasize innovation, and to encourage links between industry and academia. But it also presents scientists with a depressing, and unexpected, freeze on the main funding streams for basic research. [Nature News]
Editorial

When South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed scandal-ridden President Park Geun-hye from office on 10th March, citizens rejoiced in the streets — and many scientists breathed a sigh of relief. Her downfall has inspired a public appetite for broad governmental reforms, including changes in how the country supports scientific research. Many in the research community hope to end South Korea’s decades-long focus on applied research and shift more resources to basic science. [Nature News]
Editorial